How to create prospects that are ready to become customers

Have you been taught the ABC of sales?

There was a sales mantra a few years ago of “always be closing”. When I hear this I always think of the hungry sales person, going in for the kill. Their prime focus is to win the next order.

However, today’s customers do not wish to be sold to in this way. They prefer a softer sales journey. They wanted to be educated and helped. They don’t want to be sold to.

Educating your prospects and customers can be satisfying and enjoyable. Nevertheless, it’s important that your prospects be guided so that they end up working with you. The education is pointless if you don’t win business from it.

That’s why you need CTA rather than ABC

Use CTA to win new customers

A good sales person understands the journey that their prospects usually take. They know how to guide them along the right steps in the journey. To do this they use calls to action. They are constantly telling the customer what to do next.

Sales people who follow CTA rather than ABC will create much better relationships with their prospects and customers. But they will also control that relationship because they will be in charge of the customer journey. That means they can be confident about achieving their sales targets.

Sales people who follow ABC may struggle to achieve their targets so easily. They will be focussed on winning individual jobs rather than long-term clients. They won’t have the same level of relationship so they won’t control the buying journey.

Selling successfully using CTA first requires a good understanding of the prospect journey.

What is a prospect journey?

The prospect journey focuses on the steps that your prospects typically take in order to become customers. It is important that any company is able to understand how it attracts and converts its prospects.

Here is a case study of how I typically attract and convert my prospects. This consists of a four-step journey.

A typical prospect will first become aware of me through my content. They may see me speak at a print event. They may read some of my content that I have posted on social media or that is published in an industry magazine. Or they may find my blog through a web search.

A prospect will then often join my “Views From The Buyer” newsletter (and you can do so too at the bottom of this article!). This means that I stay in touch with them on a regular basis.

Sometimes, I will tell my newsletter readers about particular services that I offer, such as mentoring or training courses. They have the opportunity to click through and find out more about these services.

When I know who has clicked through I will follow up with an e-mail or a call. At this point I am talking to a warm prospect who is often ready to become a customer.

If you are reading this blog, you are at stage one of this journey and I want to make sure that you take the next step!

Prospect journeys need CTAs to make them work

I want you to join my views from the buyer newsletter. But you are unlikely to join unless I encourage you to do so! So I need to make a call to action. I need to tell you what I would like you to do next.

If you decide to join the newsletter I will issue further calls to action when I offer services. I will encourage you to click through to find out more about what I am talking about. There will be no sign up so that your next step is simple. But I know exactly who clicks through from my e-mails and whom I should contact next.

It’s the same when I contact warm prospects. I tell them what I want to do next. It makes the buying process much easier for both parties.

How do you create a prospect journey?

Think about how you attract your customers

Map out what steps they typically take

Write down how you can make them more likely to take these steps

Create the right calls to action

Now you are already on the way to making sure that your prospects take the right journey. You are building in the right calls to action so that they are more likely to take the next step on the journey. You are closer to creating warm prospects who are ready to become customers.

You will be using CTA rather than ABC.

Here’s a call to action for you

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